Book Discussion Groups

PALS Book Discussion Group at the Port Angeles Main Library

The Port Angeles Literary Society (PALS) reads both fiction and nonfiction titles. The group meets at 6:30pm on the last Wednesday of every month in the Coffey Room at the Port Angeles Main Library.

Attend as often as you wish. Drop- ins are always welcome. Copies of each month’s selection may be available for check out on a first-come first-served basis.

Current PALS Book Selection at the Port Angeles Branch

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrWednesday, October 25, 6:30pm

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of locks. When Marie is six, she goes blind, so her father builds a model of their neighborhood so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to the Brittany coast, where Marie’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a narrow house by the sea. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up enchanted by a crude radio.

January 25, 2017

In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

The incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the inspiration for Melville’s great classic, Moby Dick. In 1820, the Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was rammed and sunk by an eighty–ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty–man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000–mile–distant coast of South America in three tiny boats.

February 22, 2017

The Toss of A Lemon by Padma Viswanathan

Married at ten, widowed at eighteen, left with two children, Sivakami must wear widow’s whites, shave her head, and touch no one from dawn to dusk. She is not allowed to remarry, and in the next sixty years she ventures outside her family compound only three times. She is extremely orthodox in her behavior except for one defiant act: She moves back to her dead husband’s house and village to raise her children. That decision sets the course of her children’s and grandchildren’s lives, twisting their fates in surprising, sometimes heartbreaking ways.

March 29, 2017

The Witches – Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

An electrifying, fresh view of the Salem witch trials by the author of Cleopatra. Drawing masterfully from the archives, Stacy Schiff illuminates the demands of a rigorous faith and the vulnerability of settlements adrift from the mother country. The textures and tensions of a colonial life emerge with devastating clarity. Schiff brings early American anxieties to the fore to align them brilliantly with our own. In an era of religious provocations, crowdsourcing, and invisible enemies, this enthralling story makes more sense than ever.

April 26, 2017

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

An audacious, darkly glittering novel about art, fame, and ambition set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, from the author of three highly–acclaimed previous novels. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time— from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people.

May 31, 2017

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

When Helen Macdonald’s father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer, Helen had never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk, but in her grief, she saw that the goshawk’s fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White’s chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself “in the hawk’s wild mind to tame her” tested the limits of Macdonald’s humanity and changed her life.

June 28, 2017

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelly Estes

The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets. Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt’s island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara’s life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core—and force her to make an impossible choice. Inspired by true events, Kelli Estes’ brilliant and atmospheric debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, and the power of our own stories.

July 26, 2017

First Bite: How We Learn to Eat by Bee Wilson

What are the origins of taste? In First Bite, beloved food writer Bee Wilson draws from the latest research from food psychologists, neuroscientists, and nutritionists to reveal that our food habits are shaped by a whole host of factors, including family, culture, memory, gender, hunger, and love. An exploration of the extraordinary and surprising origins of our tastes and eating habit—from people who can only eat foods of a certain color to an amnesiac who can eat meal after meal without getting full. First Bite also shows us how we can change our palates to lead healthier, happier lives.

August 30, 2017

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Two half–sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonial, and will live in comfort in the sprawling, palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising half–caste children who will be sent abroad to be educated in England. Her sister, Esi, will be imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon, and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she will be sold into slavery. Stretching from the tribal wars of Ghana to slavery and Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the north to the Great Migration to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Gyasi’s novel moves through histories and geographies and— with outstanding economy and force—captures the troubled spirit of our own nation.

September 27, 2017

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. They were unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams, and disappointments. Azar Nafisi’s tale offers us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran.

October 25, 2017

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of locks. When Marie is six, she goes blind, so her father builds a model of their neighborhood so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to the Brittany coast, where Marie’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a narrow house by the sea. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up enchanted by a crude radio. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far–flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint–Malo, where his path converges with Marie. Interweaving the lives of Marie and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

November 29, 2017

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me”, Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. She ends on a serious note: the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!” This book features that now–classic essay with six complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.

December 27, 2017

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell”. But behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead–in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U–Haul.

2nd Tuesday Book Discussion Group at Port Angeles Library

The Second Tuesday Book Discussion Group reads both fiction and nonfiction titles, and meets at 11am on the second Tuesday of every month.

Attend as often as you wish. Drop-ins are always welcome.

Copies of each month’s selection may be available for check out on a first-come first-served basis.

Current 2nd Tuesday Book Selection at the Port Angeles Branch

Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike by Philip KnightNovember 14, 2017

For the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start–up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game–changing, and profitable brands. In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high–quality, low–cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion.

January 10, 2017

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

Marion, fresh out of medical school, flees Ethiopia and makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him, Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

February 14, 2017

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

When his most prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, is stolen, bookstore owner A. J. Fikry begins isolating himself from his friends, family and associates before receiving a mysterious package that compels him to remake his life.

March 14, 2017

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris, within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When Marie is blinded at the age of six, her father builds a model of their neighborhood–every house, every manhole–so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint–Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie–Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far–flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint–Malo, where his path converges with Marie–Laure. Interweaving the lives of Marie–Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

April 11, 2017

Being Mortal by Atul Gwande

Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending. Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Gawande asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.

May 9, 2017

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen–year–old Jacob on a journey to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow–– impossible though it seems–– they may still be alive.

June 13, 2017

The Garden of Evening Mists by Twan Eng Tan

Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle–fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice “until the monsoon comes.” Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

July 11, 2017

If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umriger

The recent death of her beloved husband, Rustom, has taken its toll on Tehmina Sethna. Now, while visiting her son, Sorab, in his suburban Ohio home, she is being asked to choose between continuing her old life in India and starting a new one in this unfamiliar country with her son, his American wife, and their child. Her destiny is uncertain, and soon the plight of two troubled young children next door will force the most difficult decision she has ever faced. Ultimately the journey is one that Tehmina must travel alone.

August 8, 2017

When Breath Becomes Air by When Breath Becomes Air

At the age of thirty–six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. Just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air, featuring a foreword by Dr. Abraham Verghese and an epilogue by Kalanithi’s wife, Lucy, chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naíve medical student ’possessed,’ as he wrote, ’by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life’ into a young neurosurgeon at Stanford, guiding patients toward a deeper understanding of death and illness, and finally into a patient and a new father to a baby girl, confronting his own mortality.

September 12, 2017

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend’s family and struggles to make sense of his new life. In the years that follow, he becomes entranced by one of the few things that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld. Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present–day America, and a drama of almost unbearable acuity and power. It is a story of loss and obsession, survival and self–invention, and the enormous power of art.

October 10, 2017

Dinner With Edward by Isabel Vincent

When Isabel meets Edward, both are at a crossroads: he wants to follow his late wife to the grave, and she is ready to give up on love. Thinking she is merely helping out a friend–Edward’s daughter–Isabel has no idea that the man in the kitchen baking the sublime roast chicken and light–as–air apricot soufflé will end up changing her life. As Edward and Isabel meet weekly for the glorious dinners that Edward prepares, he shares so much more than his recipes for apple galette or the perfect martini: he teaches Isabel the luxury of slowing down and taking the time to think through everything she does, to deconstruct her own life, to cut back to the bone and examine the guts, no matter how messy that proves to be.

November 14, 2017

Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike by Philip Knight

For the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start–up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game–changing, and profitable brands. In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high–quality, low–cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 his first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion.

December 12, 2017

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

It is the fourteenth century and one of the most apocalyptic events in human history is set to occur: the coming of the Black Death. History teaches us that a third of Europe’s population was destroyed. But what if the plague had killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been—a history that stretches across centuries, a history that sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, a history that spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. These are the years of rice and salt. Through the eyes of soldiers and kings, explorers and philosophers, slaves and scholars, Robinson renders an immensely rich tapestry. From the steppes of Asia to the shores of the Western Hemisphere, from the age of Akbar to the present and beyond, here is the stunning story of the creation of a new world.

Page2Screen Book and Film Discussion Group at Port Angeles

The Page2Screen book-to-film discussion group explores good reads and the films inspired by them. The group meets at 6:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month in the Coffey Room at the Port Angeles Main Library. Optional film screenings will be offered before each meeting.

Copies of each month’s selections may be available for checkout on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that there will be no meetings in June, July, or December.

Current Page2Screen Book Selection at the Port Angeles Branch

The Queen of Katwe by Tim CrothersTuesday, October 31, film screening at 4pm, book discussion at 6:30pm

One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende. Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess–a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chess­board in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that–like their daily lives–requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.

January 31, 2017

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
Film screening: 4pm
Book discussion: 6:30pm

Loosely inspired by a true story, this tender portrait of marriage asks: What do you do when the person you love has to change? Uniting fact and fiction into an original romantic vision, “The Danish Girl” eloquently portrays the unique intimacy that defines every marriage and the remarkable story of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in transgender history, and the woman torn between loyalty to her marriage and her own ambitions and desires. A deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the 20th century.

February 28, 2017

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen–year–old Jacob on a journey to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar.

March 28, 2017

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

After the horror of World War I, Tom Sherbourne welcomes his new job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, an isolated island with no residents aside from him and his wife Isabel. But times on the island are tough for Isabel as she suffers multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth in just four years’ time. When a boat with a dead man and a young baby washes ashore, Isabel convinces Tom to let her keep the baby as their own, but the consequences to her actions may be dire.

April 25, 2017

The Revenant by Michael Punke
Film screening, 3:30pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

A fictional account of a real-life story of survival on the American frontier, chronicling the adventures and exploits of fur trapper Hugh Glass, who is attacked by a grizzly bear and abandoned by his fellow trappers. Left alone and defenseless, Glass manages to survive and trek thousands of miles through the wilderness to seek justice.

May 30, 2017

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. Their life–as she sees it–is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved.

August 29, 2017

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than her tiny village. She takes a badly–needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, now wheelchair–bound after a motorcycle accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, world travel— and is acerbic, moody, and bossy. But Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

September 26, 2017

This razor–sharp satire is set in Texas during America’s war in Iraq. It explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. Ben Fountain’s remarkable debut novel follows the surviving members of the heroic Bravo Squad through one exhausting stop in their media–intensive “Victory Tour” at Texas Stadium, football mecca of the Dallas Cowboys, their fans, promoters, and cheerleaders.

October 31, 2017

The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende. Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess–a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chess­board in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that–like their daily lives–requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona. By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Master–the first female titled player in her country’s history–Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries.

November 28, 2017

The Circle by Dave Eggers
Film screening, 4pm
Book discussion, 6:30pm

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world–even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart–racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

Novel Conversations Discussion Group at the Sequim Branch

Novel Conversations is a new monthly book discussion group fostering dialogue around works of fiction and non-fiction, exploring world literature in a round table setting. All are welcome to drop in and participate.

The Novel Conversations Book Discussion Group will meet at 4pm on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the Sequim Branch Library meeting room. Participation is free, and no registration is required.

Current Novel Conversations Book Discussion Group at the Sequim Branch

The Danish Girl by David EbershoffWednesday, October 25, 2017, 4pm

Loosely inspired by a true story, this tender portrait of marriage asks: What do you do when the person you love has to change? It starts with a question, a simple favor asked by a wife of her husband while both are painting in their studio, setting off a transformation neither can anticipate. Uniting fact and fiction into an original romantic vision, The Danish Girl eloquently portrays the unique intimacy that defines every marriage and the remarkable story of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in transgender history, and the woman torn between loyalty to her marriage and her own ambitions and desires.

Copies of the book are available in regular print, large print, book on CD, and downloadable e-book and e-audiiobook format Request a copy here.

January 25, 2017

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

In 1909, struggling to farm his remote homestead and raise three sons, widower Oliver Milliron desperately needs help. A housekeeper’s ad in a Milwaukee newspaper, “Can’t cook but doesn’t bite”, leads him to hire her sight unseen. When perky Rose Llewellyn arrives, she brings her brainy brother, Morris. Though Rose whistles through her work at the Milliron house, and Morris becomes teacher at the one–room school, these two newcomers conceal a past that is colorful and infamous.

February 22, 2017

If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Qur’an by Carla Power

The eye–opening story of how American Carla Powers and her longtime friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities.

March 22, 2017

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered during renovations at a Seattle hotel, a man embarks on a quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti–Japanese sentiment.

April 26, 2017

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life follows four college classmates–broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition–as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, this stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

May 24, 2017

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to ‘aging out’ of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance. Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.

June 28, 2017

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Gone with the Wind is turned upside down in this stunning debut novel of the antebellum South, a tragic story of page–turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail. When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.

July 26, 2017

The Revenant by Michael Punke

In this story of survival, Hugh Glass is an expert trapper and frontiersman. After being viciously mauled by a grizzly bear, abandoned, and left for dead by his fellow trappers, Hugh is pushed to survive by one thing – revenge.

August 23, 2017

The Painter by Peter Heller

Peter Heller, the celebrated author of the breakout best seller The Dog Stars, returns with an achingly beautiful, wildly suspenseful second novel about an artist trying to outrun his past. Years ago, Jim Stegner shot a man in a bar. The man lived, Jim served his time, and he has learned to control the dark impulses that threaten to overtake him. Jim lives a quiet life. He doesn’t drink, he goes fly fishing in the evenings. His paintings fetch excellent prices at a posh gallery in Santa Fe. He is – if he can admit it – almost happy.Request this item

September 27, 2017

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon – the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell”. But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead–in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U–Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

October 25, 2017

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff

Loosely inspired by a true story, this tender portrait of marriage asks: What do you do when the person you love has to change? It starts with a question, a simple favor asked by a wife of her husband while both are painting in their studio, setting off a transformation neither can anticipate. Uniting fact and fiction into an original romantic vision, The Danish Girl eloquently portrays the unique intimacy that defines every marriage and the remarkable story of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in transgender history, and the woman torn between loyalty to her marriage and her own ambitions and desires. Lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the 20th century.

November 29, 2017

(The 5th Wednesday this month due to Thanksgiving.)The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati

The year is 1883, and although young surgeon Anna Savard and her cousin, Sophie, have become successful physicians, they never recovered from the losses they suffered as children. So when Anna encounters a child who’s lost nearly everything, she must decide whether or not she’s willing to let go of the past and let love into her life. Meanwhile, Sophie’s memories of being left alone in the world propel the young obstetrician to help a desperate mother– –and catapult her into the orbit of a very dangerous man.

December 27, 2017

The Soul of an Octopus : a joyful exploration into the wonder of consciousness by Sy Montgomery

Montgomery explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus – a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature – and the remarkable connections it makes with humans…Montgomery chronicles this growing appreciation of the octopus, but also tells a love story. Funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about consciousness and the meeting of two very different minds.

2nd Saturday Book Discussion Group at the Sequim Branch

The Sequim Book Discussion Group brings great, fiction and non-fiction and classic and contemporary books to life, exploring those shared lives together in a round table setting.

The group is free and open to the public. No reservations are needed. Attend as often as you wish.

Discussions take place the second Saturday of every month at 3pm.

Current 2nd Saturday Book Selection at the Sequim Branch Library

The Hearts of Horses by Molly GlossNovember 18, 2017(3rd Saturday meeting in observance of Veteran’s Day.)

In the winter of 1917, nineteen–year–old Martha Lessen heads for a remote county in eastern Oregon, looking for work gentling wild horses. She chances on a rancher, George Bliss, who is willing to hire her on. While many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, he glimpses, beneath Martha’s showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong–willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses. A heartwarming, greatly satisfying story about the unexpected and profound connections between people and animals.

Copies of the book are available in regular print, book on CD, and downloadable e-book and audio e-book formats.
Request this item.

January 14, 2017

Tracks by Robyn Davidson

Tracks tells the remarkable true story of Robyn Davidson, a young woman who leaves her life in the city to make a solo trek across almost 2,000 miles of sprawling Australian desert. Accompanied only by her dog and four unpredictable camels, she sets off on a life–changing journey of self–discovery. Along the way, she meets National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan, who begins to chronicle her voyage.

February 11, 2017

Euphoria by Lily King

A breathtaking novel about three young anthropologists in the ’30s who are caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, careers, and ultimately, their lives. English anthropologist Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field for several years, studying the Kiona River tribe in New Guinea, when he meets renowned anthropologist Nell Stone and her fiery husband Fen at a party. Before long, Andrew becomes obsessed—not just with his work but with Nell, and the relationship tangle sets off a fateful series of events.Request this item.

March 11, 2017

The Martian by Andy Weir

Mark Whitney was nearly killed by a dust storm on Mars and then abandoned by his crew that thought him dead. Now he’s all alone with no way of letting Earth know he’s alive, which doesn’t matter because his supplies would run out before they’d get there. Either way, the environment or human error will likely kill him first. Not giving in, Mark works to survive, battling obstacle after obstacle, but will it be enough?

April 8, 2017

The Painter by Peter Heller

Jim Stegner has seen his share of violence and loss. Years ago he shot a man in a bar. His marriage disintegrated. He grieved the one thing he loved. In the wake of tragedy, Jim, spends his days painting and fly–fishing, trying to find a way to live with the dark impulses that sometimes overtake him. But one afternoon, on a dirt road, Jim comes across a man beating a small horse, and a brutal encounter rips his quiet life wide open.

May 13, 2017

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

This is the harrowing account of a black man, born free in New York State, who was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in 1841. Having no way to contact his family, and fearing for his life if he told the truth, Solomon Northup was sold from plantation to plantation in Louisiana, toiling under cruel masters for twelve years before meeting Samuel Bass, a Canadian who finally put him in touch with his family, and helped start the process to regain his freedom.

June 10, 2017

Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty

A vivid and charming portrait of a large southern family, the Fairchilds, who live on a plantation in the Mississippi delta. The story, set in 1923, is exquisitely woven from the ordinary events of family life, centered around the visit of a young relative, Laura McRaven, and the family’s preparations for her cousin Dabney’s wedding.

July 8, 2017

The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers

Working as a cleaner in the cathedral of Chartres for more than twenty years, Agnès Morel profoundly transforms local lives by performing small tasks and using her subtle influence when an accidental encounter reveals tragic incidents from her youth.

August 12, 2017

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

The incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the inspiration for Melville’s great classic, Moby Dick. In 1820, the Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was rammed and sunk by an 80–ton bull sperm whale. Its 20–man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000–mile–distant coast of South America in three tiny boats.

September 9, 2017

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

In this debut novel, Isaac Amin, a Jewish businessman in Tehran, is imprisoned following the Iranian Revolution. As Amin attempts to survive his brutal treatment and convince his captors that he is not a Zionist spy, his wife, young daughter, and son (a college student in New York City) find various ways to cope with the radical change in their way of life and the knowledge that they may never see Amin again.

October 14, 2017

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

A seminal episode and primal American mystery is unveiled in crackling detail and lyrical prose by one of our most acclaimed historians. Schiff brings the textures and tensions of colonial life into devastating clarity, and brilliantly aligns early American anxieties with our own. In an era of religious provocations, crowdsourcing, and invisible enemies, this enthralling story makes more sense than ever.

November 18, 2017

In the winter of 1917, nineteen–year–old Martha Lessen heads for a remote county in eastern Oregon, looking for work gentling wild horses. She chances on a rancher, George Bliss, who is willing to hire her on. While many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, he glimpses, beneath Martha’s showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong–willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses. A heartwarming, greatly satisfying story about the unexpected and profound connections between people and animals.

December 9, 2017

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris and is blind by age six. Her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, so she can memorize it and navigate the real streets. When the Germans occupy Paris, they flee to Saint–Malo on the coast. Meanwhile, in Germany, Werner grows up enchanted by a crude radio he finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, which wins him a place with the Hitler Youth. Werner travels throughout Europe, and finally to Saint–Malo, where his and Marie Laure’s stories intertwine.